Chinese House

The Chinese House is a gilded garden pavilion in Sanssouci Park, roughly 660 metres southwest of Frederick the Great's summer palace. Built between 1755 and 1764 by Johann Gottfried Buering from the king's own sketches, it was conceived as an ornament for his ornamental and kitchen garden. The clover-leaf plan fuses European Rococo with the chinoiserie fashion of the day: life-size gilded sandstone figures of Chinese men and women sit on plinths between the columns, with further groups drinking tea or eating fruit. On the roof a Chinese musician plays the lute beneath a parasol. Inside, a single round hall carries ceiling frescoes and a porcelain collection. The pavilion is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin and can be entered Tuesday to Sunday in the warm season.